Happy Day

Today is my birthday. I've always loved my birthday and never feel the stress of "turning one year older". To me, its always been a fun day to celebrate while your friends and family surround you. Almost in the same way as New Years, it allows you to hit reset and take stock of everything around you as you gear up for another year.

This year is a little different. It's still fun and I'm still not worried about getting older. But, this year I know that hitting "reset" isn't the same as it has been in all of the years before and that at this time next year, life will be completely different.

It's really the most exciting birthday I've had. Moreso than turning 16 or 18 or 21. Those milestones were just arbitrary numbers, and in reality, not much changed after each of those birthdays. This, though is completely different. I know that on my next birthday, I'll have a whole new identity as a mother. I know that I'll never look at my birthday without thinking of my child's birthday or what it was like for my mother on my birthday. I can't even do that today. Before this year, my birthday was one day a year where it was all about me. But I know that the word birthday has completely different meaning now, and I'm sure that will change again for me in a few months.

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to the next year and how excited I am for everything that's coming up.